AICC Gujarat session to reignite party’s connect with Gandhi, Patel

The two-day All-India Congress Committee (AICC) session slated to be held in Ahmedabad in Gujarat on April 8 and 9 will see the Congress trying to revive the memories of its association with Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel, two party stalwarts from Gujarat, ahead of the Assembly elections in the state in 2027.

The Congress has been out of power in Gujarat since 1995. Since 1998, the BJP has had an uninterrupted rule in the state.

“The extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) will meet at the Sardar Vallabhbhai National Memorial at Ahmedabad on April 8. It will be attended by several key leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states as well as the party’s state presidents will also attend this meeting,” Shaktisinh Gohil, chief of the Gujarat unit of Congress, said.

The memorial is managed by a trust that is headed by former Union Minister and veteran Congress leader Dinsha Patel. After the CWC meeting, party leaders will visit the Sabarmati Ashram in the city in the evening to pay tributes to Mahatma Gandhi and take part in a prayer meet there.

The CWC meeting will be followed by a session of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) at Sabarmati Riverfront on April 9.

The legacy of Patel, the first Union Home Minister of Independent India who played a key role in getting the princely states to join the Indian Union, has been preyed upon actively by the BJP. The Congress has been trying — without success — for a long time to reclaim the legacy of Patel.

Mahatma Gandhi, who was staunchly secular despite being a devout Hindu in personal life, continues to remain an enigma for the BJP.

Rahul Gandhi recently visited Gujarat to set the stage for the AICC session in April. “While addressing Congress workers in Ahmedabad, he talked about the important role played by Gandhi and Patel in shaping the Congress’ ideology and how there would have been no Gandhi or Patel had there been no Gujarat,” Amit Chavda, Congress MLA from Anklav constituency in Gujarat, said.

The AICC session will deliberate on the challenges posed by the BJP’s “anti-people” policies and its “attack” on various institutions as well as the Congress’ roadmap for the future.

India